KR20110132604A - Optimization of wireless power devices for charging batteries - Google Patents

Abstract

Example embodiments relate to wireless power. The rechargeable device may include receive circuitry for coupling to the receive antenna. The receiving circuit may include at least one sensor for sensing one or more parameters associated with the rechargeable device. The receiving circuit may also include a tuning controller operably coupled to the at least one sensor to generate one or more tuning values in response to the sensed one or more parameters. Additionally, the receiving circuit may include a matching circuit operably coupled to the tuning controller to tune the receiving antenna in accordance with one or more tuning values.

Description

Optimizing wireless power devices for rechargeable batteries {OPTIMIZATION OF WIRELESS POWER DEVICES FOR CHARGING BATTERIES}

Claims of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119

This application is subject to 35 U.S.C. §119 (e),

United States Provisional Patent Application 61 / 163,383, entitled "WIRELESS ENERGY EXTRACTION FOR POWER CONSUMPTION," filed March 25, 2009, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

United States Provisional Patent Application 61 / 164,355, entitled "WIRELESS POWER ENERGY TRANSFER OPTIMIZATION," filed March 27, 2009, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

United States Provisional Patent Application 61 / 164,744, entitled "ANTENNA TUNING BASED ON FEEDBACK FROM CHARGING PARAMETERS," filed March 30, 2009, the disclosure of which is fully incorporated by reference; and

Claims priority to US Provisional Patent Application 61 / 186,770, entitled “REQUESTING CHANGE IN TUNING OF RF FIELD WHILE CHARGING,” filed June 12, 2009, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to wireless power, and more particularly to optimization of wireless power devices such as wireless chargers and wireless rechargeable devices.

Typically, each battery powered device needs its own charger and a power source, typically an AC power outlet. This is inconvenient when many devices require charging.

Approaches are being developed that use over the air (OTA) power transmission between the transmitter and the device to be charged. These approaches generally fall into two categories. One is based on the coupling of plane wave radiation (also referred to as far field radiation) between the receiving antenna and the transmitting antenna on the device to be charged that collects the radiated power to charge the battery and rectifies the power. Antennas generally have a resonant length to improve coupling efficiency. This approach suffers from the fact that the power coupling drops sharply with the distance between the antennas. Thus, filling over a suitable distance (eg> 1 to 2 m) becomes difficult. In addition, because the system emits plane waves, unintentional radiation can interfere with other systems if not properly controlled through filtering.

Other approaches are based, for example, on inductive coupling between a “charging” mat or surface embedded transmit antenna and a receive antenna embedded in the host device to be charged and the rectifying circuit. This approach has the disadvantage that the spacing between the transmitting and receiving antennas must be very close (for example mm). Although this approach has the ability to charge multiple devices simultaneously in the same area, this area is typically small, requiring the user to place the device in a particular area.

There is a need for devices configured to optimize wireless power charging. More specifically, there is a need for a wireless rechargeable device configured to enable optimizing the amount of power received thereby. There is also a need for a wireless charger configured to change the transmitted RF field in order to be able to improve charging efficiency using a rechargeable device.

1 shows a simple block diagram of a wireless power transfer system.
2 shows a simplified schematic diagram of a wireless power transfer system.
3A illustrates a schematic diagram of a loop antenna for use in exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
3B illustrates an alternative embodiment of a differential antenna used in exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
4 is a simple block diagram of a transmitter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a simple block diagram of a receiver in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
6 shows a simplified schematic diagram of a portion of a transmission circuit for performing messaging between a transmitter and a receiver.
7 shows a block diagram of a portion of an electronic device in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
8 illustrates an antenna tuning unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a flowchart illustrating a method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
10 illustrates a system including a plurality of electronic devices in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
11 illustrates a system process diagram in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
12 is a flowchart illustrating another method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
13 is part of another electronic device, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
14 illustrates another system including a plurality of electronic devices in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
15 illustrates another system including a plurality of electronic devices in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
16 is a flowchart illustrating another method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "functioning as an example, illustration, or illustration." Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or useful over other embodiments.

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of exemplary embodiments of the invention and is not intended to represent the only possible embodiments of the invention. The term "exemplary" as used throughout this description means "functioning as an example, illustration, or illustration" and should not necessarily be construed as preferred or useful over other exemplary embodiments. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the exemplary embodiments of the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that exemplary embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some cases, well known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the novelty of the example embodiments presented herein.

The word "wireless power" is used herein to mean any form of energy associated with an electric field, magnetic field, electromagnetic field, or the like that is transmitted from a transmitter to a receiver without using physical electromagnetic conductors.

1 illustrates a wireless transmission or charging system 100 in accordance with various exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Input power 102 is provided to transmitter 104 to generate a radiated field 106 for providing energy transfer. Receiver 108 is coupled to radiation field 106 and generates output power 110 for consumption or storage by a device (not shown) coupled to output power 110. Both the transmitter 104 and the receiver 108 are separated by a distance 112. In one exemplary embodiment, the transmitter 104 and the receiver 108 are configured according to a mutual resonance relationship, and when the resonance frequency of the receiver 108 and the resonance frequency of the transmitter 104 are very close, the receiver 108 Transmission loss between the transmitter 104 and the receiver 108 is minimized when is located in the "near-field" of the radiation field 106.

The transmitter 104 further includes a transmit antenna 114 that provides a means for energy transmission, and the receiver 108 further includes a receive antenna 118 that provides a means for energy reception. The transmit and receive antennas are sized according to the applications and devices associated with them. As stated, efficient energy transfer occurs by coupling a large portion of the energy in the near field of the transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna rather than propagating most of the energy into the far field with electromagnetic waves. When in this near field, a coupling mode may be developed between the transmit antenna 114 and the receive antenna 118. Here, the area around the antennas 114 and 118 where such near field coupling may occur is referred to as a coupling mode area.

2 shows a simple schematic diagram of a wireless power transmission system. Transmitter 104 includes an oscillator 122, a power amplifier 124, and a filter and matching circuit 126. The oscillator is configured to produce at a desired frequency that may be adjusted in response to the adjustment signal 123. The oscillator signal may be amplified by the power amplifier 124 with an amplification amount responsive to the control signal 125. Filters and matching circuits 126 may be included to filter out harmonics or other unwanted frequencies and to match the impedance of transmitter 104 with transmit antenna 114.

Receiver 108 includes matching circuit 132 and rectifier for generating a DC power output to charge battery 136 or to power a device (not shown) coupled to the receiver as shown in FIG. May include a switching circuit 134. The matching circuit 132 may be included to match the impedance of the receiver 108 with the receiving antenna 118. Receiver 108 and transmitter 104 may communicate on separate transmission channels 119 (eg, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Cellular, etc.).

As illustrated in FIG. 3A, the antennas used in the exemplary embodiments may be configured as a “loop” antenna 150, which may also be referred to herein as a “magnetic” antenna. Loop antennas may be configured to include a physical core or an air core, such as a ferrite core. The air core loop antenna may be more acceptable for unrelated physical devices disposed near the core. The air core loop antenna also allows for placement of other components within the core region. In addition, the air core loop may be arranged in a plane of the receiving antenna 118 (FIG. 2) in the plane of the transmitting antenna 114 (FIG. 2) in which the coupling mode region of the transmitting antenna 114 (FIG. 2) may be more powerful. You can also make it easier.

As stated, efficient energy transfer occurs between the transmitter 104 and the receiver 108 during the matched or near matched resonance between the transmitter 104 and the receiver 108. However, even if the resonance between the transmitter 104 and the receiver 108 is not matched, energy may be transmitted with low efficiency. Energy transmission occurs by coupling the energy from the near field of the transmit antenna to a receive antenna residing in a neighborhood in which this near field is established, rather than propagating energy from the transmit antenna into free space.

The resonant frequency of the loop or magnetic antennas is based on inductance and capacitance. The inductance of the loop antenna is generally simply the inductance produced by the loop, but the capacitance is generally added to the inductance of the loop antenna to create a resonant structure at the desired resonant frequency. As a non-limiting example, capacitor 152 and capacitor 154 may be added to the antenna to create a resonant circuit that generates resonant signal 156. Thus, for loop antennas of larger diameter, the size of the capacitance required to induce resonance decreases as the diameter or inductance of the loop increases. In addition, as the diameter of the loop or magnetic antenna increases, the efficient energy transfer area of the near field increases. Of course, other resonant circuits are possible. As another non-limiting example, the capacitor may be disposed in parallel between two terminals of the loop antenna. Those skilled in the art will also recognize that for transmit antennas the resonant signal 156 may be input to the loop antenna 150.

3B illustrates an alternative embodiment of the differential antenna 250 used in the exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Antenna 250 may be configured as a differential coil antenna. In a differential antenna configuration, the center of antenna 250 is connected to ground. Each end of the antenna 250 is connected to a receiver / transmitter unit (not shown), rather than having one end connected to ground as in FIG. 3A. Capacitors 252, 253, 254 may be added to antenna 250 to create a resonant circuit that generates a differential resonant signal. Differential antenna configurations may be useful in situations where communication is bidirectional and transmission to the coil is required. One such situation may be for Near Field Communication (NFC) systems.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention include coupling power between two antennas present in the near field of each other. As stated, the near field is the area around the antenna where an electromagnetic field is present but may not propagate or radiate away from the antenna. Typically, they are limited to a volume close to the physical volume of the antenna. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, magnetic type antennas, such as single and multi-turn loop antennas, in the case of magnetic type antennas, in comparison to the electrical near field of an electrical type antenna (eg, a small dipole) Since magnetic near field amplitudes tend to be higher, they are used for both transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) antenna systems. This allows for potentially larger coupling between the pairs. Also contemplated are "electrical" antennas (eg, dipoles and monopoles) or a combination of magnetic and electrical antennas.

The Tx antenna has a frequency low enough to achieve good coupling (e.g.> -4 kHz) for small Rx antennas that are significantly more apart than allowed by the far field and inductive approaches described above. And at a sufficiently large antenna size. If the Tx antenna is correctly sized, when the Rx antenna on the host device is placed within the coupling mode region of the driven Tx loop antenna (ie near field), a high coupling level (eg, -2 Hz to- 4 iii) can be achieved.

4 is a simple block diagram of a transmitter 200 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The transmitter 200 includes a transmitting circuit 202 and a transmitting antenna 204. In general, transmit circuitry 202 provides RF power to transmit antenna 204 by providing an oscillating signal that causes generation of near field energy around transmit antenna 204. As an example, the transmitter 200 may operate in the 13.56 MHz ISM band.

Exemplary transmission circuit 202 provides a fixed impedance matching circuit 206 and harmonic radiation to match the impedance (eg, 50 ohms) of transmission circuit 202 with transmission antenna 204 to receivers 108 (FIG. A low pass filter (LPF) 208 configured to reduce to a level to prevent self-jamming of devices coupled to 1). Other exemplary embodiments may include different filter topologies that include, but are not limited to, notch filters that attenuate certain frequencies but pass other frequencies, and may include a DC current derived by a power amplifier or output power to an antenna. It may also include adaptive impedance matching, which may vary based on the same measurable transmission metric. The transmit circuit 202 further includes a power amplifier 210 configured to drive the RF signal determined by the oscillator 212. The transmit circuit may be composed of separate devices or circuits, or alternatively, may be composed of an integrated assembly. One example RF power output from the transmit antenna 204 may be approximately 2.5 watts.

The transmission circuit 202 enables a communication protocol that enables the oscillator 212, adjusts the frequency of the oscillator, and interacts with neighboring devices via attached receivers during a transmission phase (or duty cycle) for a particular receiver. It further includes a controller 214 for adjusting the output power level to implement.

The transmit circuit 202 may further include a load sensing circuit 216 for detecting the presence or absence of active receivers in the vicinity of the near field generated by the transmit antenna 204. By way of example, the load sensing circuit 216 monitors the current flowing to the power amplifier 210, which is powered by the presence or absence of active receivers in the vicinity of the near field generated by the transmit antenna 204. get affected. Detection of a change in loading on the power amplifier 210 is monitored by the controller 214 for use in determining whether to enable the oscillator 212 to transmit energy for communicating with an active receiver.

The transmit antenna 204 may be implemented as an antenna strip having a thickness, width, and metal type selected to keep resistive losses low. In a conventional implementation, the transmit antenna 204 may be configured to be associated with a large structure, such as a table, mat, lamp or other less portable configuration generally. Thus, the transmit antenna 204 will generally not need a "turn" to be dimensioned in practice. One example implementation of transmit antenna 204 may be “electrically small” (ie, part of the wavelength) and may be tuned to resonate at a lower available frequency by using a capacitor to define the resonant frequency. In an example application where the transmit antenna 204 may be larger in diameter than the receive antenna, or may be larger in length of the side (eg, 0.50 meters) in the case of a square loop, the transmit antenna 204 ) Will not necessarily require multiple turns to obtain the proper capacitance.

Transmitter 200 may collect and track information regarding the location and status of receiver devices that may be associated with transmitter 200. Thus, the transmitter circuit 202 may include the presence detector 280, the hermetic detector 260, or a combination thereof, connected to the controller 214 (also referred to herein as a processor). The controller 214 may adjust the amount of power delivered by the amplifier 210 in response to the presence signals from the presence detector 280 and the hermetic detector 260. The transmitter is, for example, an AC-DC converter (not shown) for converting conventional AC power present in a building, and a DC-DC converter (for converting a conventional DC power source into a voltage suitable for the transmitter 200). Power may be received directly through a number of power sources, such as not shown, or from a conventional DC power source (not shown).

As a non-limiting example, presence detector 280 may be a motion detector used to detect an initial presence of a device to be charged that is inserted within the coverage area of the transmitter. After detection, the transmitter may be turned on and the RF power received by the device may be used to toggle the switch on the Rx device in a predetermined manner, which in turn results in a change in the drive point impedance of the transmitter.

As another non-limiting example, presence detector 280 may be a detector capable of detecting a human by, for example, infrared detection, motion detection, or other suitable means. In some example embodiments, there may be regulations that limit the amount of power the transmit antenna may transmit at a particular frequency. In some cases, these regulations are intended to protect humans from electromagnetic radiation. However, there may be an environment where the transmit antennas are arranged in an area not occupied or rarely occupied by a human, such as a parking lot, a shop floor, a store, and the like. If these environments are free from humans, it may be acceptable to increase the power output of the transmit antennas above the normal power limit specification. That is, the controller 214 may adjust the power output of the transmit antenna 204 to below a prescribed level in response to a human presence, and allow the human to adjust the power output of the transmit antenna 204 from the electromagnetic field of the transmit antenna 204. When outside the prescribed distance, it may be adjusted to a level higher than the prescribed level.

As a non-limiting example, the hermetic detector 260 (also referred to herein as a hermetic compartment detector or hermetic space detector) may be a device such as a sensing switch to determine when the enclosure is in a closed or open state. It may be. When the transmitter is in an enclosed enclosure, the power level of the transmitter may be increased.

In example embodiments, a method in which the transmitter 200 does not remain on indefinitely may be used. In this case, the transmitter 200 may be programmed to shut off after a user-defined amount of time. This feature prevents the transmitter 200, especially the power amplifier 210, from working long after the wireless devices around it are fully charged. This event may be due to the circuit not detecting a signal transmitted from either the repeater or the receiving coil when the device is fully charged. To prevent the transmitter 200 from automatically shutting down if another device is placed around it, the transmitter 200 automatic shutoff feature may only be activated after a set period of lack of motion detected in the vicinity. The user may be able to determine an inactivity time interval and change it as desired. As a non-limiting example, the time interval may be longer than necessary to fully charge a particular type of wireless device under the assumption that the device was initially fully discharged.

5 is a simple block diagram of a receiver 300 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The receiver 300 includes a receiving circuit 302 and a receiving antenna 304. Receiver 300 is also coupled to device 350 to provide the received power to device 350. It should be noted that the receiver 300 is illustrated as being external to the device 350 but may be integrated into the device 350. In general, energy is propagated wirelessly to receive antenna 304 and then coupled to device 350 via receive circuit 302.

Receive antenna 304 is tuned to resonate at or about the same frequency as transmit antenna 204 (FIG. 4). Receive antenna 304 may be dimensioned similar to transmit antenna 204 or may be sized differently based on the dimensions of associated device 350. By way of example, device 350 may be a portable electronic device having a diameter or length dimension that is smaller than the diameter of the length of transmit antenna 204. In this example, receive antenna 304 may be implemented as a multi-turn antenna to reduce the capacitance value of a tuning capacitor (not shown) and increase the impedance of the receive antenna. As an example, receive antenna 304 may be disposed around a substantial circumference of device 350 to maximize the antenna diameter and reduce the number of loop turns (ie, windings) and inter-winding capacitance of the receive antenna.

Receive circuit 302 provides impedance matching to receive antenna 304. Receive circuit 302 includes a power conversion circuit 306 that converts a received RF energy source into charging power for use by device 350. The power conversion circuit 306 includes an RF-DC converter 308, and may also include a DC-DC converter 310. The RF-DC converter 308 rectifies the RF energy signal received at the receive antenna 304 into non-AC power, while the DC-DC converter 310 is compatible with the device 350 with the rectified RF energy signal. Convert to an energy potential (eg voltage). Various RF-DC converters are contemplated, including partial wave and full-wave rectifiers, regulators, bridges, doublers, as well as linear and switching converters.

The receive circuit 302 may further include a switching circuit 312 for connecting the receive antenna 304 to the power conversion circuit 306, or alternatively for disconnecting the power conversion circuit 306. Disconnecting the receive antenna 304 from the power conversion circuit 306 not only stops charging the device 350, but also changes the "load" as "shown" by the transmitter 200 (FIG. 2). .

As disclosed above, the transmitter 200 includes a load sensing circuit 216 that detects a change in the bias current provided to the transmitter power amplifier 210. Thus, the transmitter 200 has a mechanism for determining when receivers are within the near field of the transmitter.

When multiple receivers 300 are in the near field of a transmitter, it may be desirable to time-multiplex the loading and unloading of one or more receivers so that other receivers can be coupled more efficiently to the transmitter. The receiver may also be cloaked to remove coupling to other nearby receivers or to reduce loading on nearby transmitters. This "unloading" of the receiver is also known as "cloaking" here. In addition, this switching between unloading and loading controlled by the receiver 300 and detected by the transmitter 200 provides a communication mechanism from the receiver 300 to the transmitter 200 as described more fully below. In addition, the protocol may be associated with a switching that enables the transmission of a message from the receiver 300 to the transmitter 200. By way of example, the switching speed may be approximately 100 μsec.

In one exemplary embodiment, communication between a transmitter and a receiver refers to a device sensing and charging control mechanism, rather than to conventional bidirectional communication. That is, the transmitter uses on / off keying of the transmitted signal to adjust whether energy is available in the near field. Receivers interpret these changes in energy as messages from the transmitter. From the receiver side, the receiver adjusts how much power is being received from the near field using the tuning and the tuning of the receiving antenna. The transmitter can detect these differences in power used from the near field and interpret these changes as messages from the receiver.

Receive circuit 302 may further include a signaling detector and beacon circuit 314 used to identify received energy variation, which may correspond to information signaling from a transmitter to a receiver. In addition, the signaling and beacon circuit 314 also detects transmission of reduced RF signal energy (i.e., beacon signal) and receives the reduced RF signal energy to configure the receiving circuit 302 for wireless charging. It may be used to rectify unpowered or power depleted circuits in 302 to nominal power for awakening.

The receiving circuit 302 further includes a processor 316 for coordinating the processes of the receiver 300 described herein including the control of the switching circuit 312 described herein. In addition, clocking of the receiver 300 may occur upon occurrence of other events including detection of an external wired charging source (eg, wall / USB power) that provides charging power to the device 350. . In addition to controlling the clocking of the receiver, the processor 316 may also monitor the beacon circuit 314 to determine the beacon state and extract messages sent from the transmitter. In addition, the processor 316 may adjust the DC-DC converter 310 for improved performance.

6 shows a simplified schematic diagram of a portion of a transmission circuit for performing messaging between a transmitter and a receiver. In some exemplary embodiments of the present invention, means for communication between the transmitter and the receiver may be enabled. In FIG. 6, the power amplifier 210 drives the transmit antenna 204 to generate a radiation field. The power amplifier is driven by the carrier signal 220 oscillating at the desired frequency with respect to the transmit antenna 204. The transmit modulated signal 224 is used to control the output of the power amplifier 210.

The transmitting circuit can send signals to receivers by using an on / off keying process on the power amplifier 210. That is, if the transmit modulation signal 224 is asserted, the power amplifier 210 will drive output the frequency of the carrier signal 220 on the transmit antenna 204. If the transmit modulated signal 224 is negated, the power amplifier will not drive output any frequency on the transmit antenna 204.

In addition, the transmit circuitry of FIG. 6 includes a load sensing circuit 216 that powers the power amplifier 210 and generates a receive signal 235 output. In the load sensing circuit 216, a voltage drop across the resistor R _s develops between the power input signal 226 and the power supply 228 for the power amplifier 210. Any change in power consumed by the power amplifier 210 will cause a change in the voltage drop to be amplified by the differential amplifier 230. When the transmitting antenna is in coupling mode with the receiving antenna of the receiver (not shown in FIG. 6), the amount of current drawn by the power amplifier 210 will vary. That is, if there is no coupled mode resonance for the transmit antenna 204, the power required to drive the radiation field will be the first amount. If there is a coupled mode resonance, the amount of power consumed by the power amplifier 210 will rise because a lot of power is coupled to the receive antenna. Thus, the receive signal 235 can indicate the presence of a receive antenna coupled to the transmit antenna 204 and can also detect signals transmitted from the receive antenna. In addition, a change in receiver current derivation will be observable in the power amplifier current derivation of the transmitter, and this change can be used to detect signals from receive antennas.

The details of some exemplary embodiments of clocking signals, beacon signals and circuits for generating these signals are described in the US entitled “REVERSE LINK SIGNALING VIA RECEIVE ANTENNA IMPEDANCE MODULATION,” filed October 10, 2008. Utility Model Patent Application No. 12 / 249,873; And US Utility Model Application No. 12 / 249,861, entitled "TRANSMIT POWER CONTROL FOR A WIRELESS CHARGING SYSTEM," filed October 10, 2008, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Details of exemplary communication mechanisms and protocols can be found in US Utility Model Application No. 12 / 249,866, filed October 10, 2008, entitled " SIGNALING CHARGING IN WIRELESS POWER ENVIRONMENT, " Fully included by reference.

Note that the term "active mode" as used herein includes the mode of operation in which the electronic device is actively transmitting a signal (eg, a data signal). The term "passive mode" as used herein also includes a mode of operation in which the electronic device is capable of detecting a signal but does not actively transmit the signal.

7 shows a block diagram of a portion of an electronic device 700 that may include any known and suitable electronic device. By way of non-limiting example, electronic device 700 may include a cellular telephone, a portable media player, a camera, a gaming device, a navigation device, a headset (eg, a Bluetooth headset), a tool, a toy, or any combination thereof. have. As will be described more fully below, the electronic device 700 may be configured to wirelessly receive power transmitted from another electronic device, such as a wireless charger. More specifically, receiver 701 in electronic device 700 may be configured to receive wireless power transmitted from a device configured to transmit wireless power. In addition, the electronic device 700 may be configured to charge the battery 706 of the electronic device 700 with received power.

In addition, the electronic device 700 may be configured to wirelessly communicate with at least one other electronic device. More specifically, as an example, the electronic device 700 may be configured to establish a communication link (eg, a near-field communication (NFC) link) with at least one other electronic device, Upon establishment, may wirelessly receive data (eg, audio files, data files, or video files) from at least one other electronic device, and may wirelessly transmit data to at least one other electronic device. Or both may be possible.

The electronic device 700 may include a receiver 701, which includes an antenna 702 operatively coupled to the receiving circuit 704 and configured to receive the RF field 720, the RF field 720. May include, for example, wireless power, data signals, or a combination thereof. Receive circuit 704 may include match circuit 708, rectifier 710, and regulator 712. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the matching circuit 708 may be configured to match the impedance of the receiving circuit 704 with the antenna 702. As also understood by those skilled in the art, the rectifier 710 may be configured to convert an AC voltage to a DC voltage, and the regulator 712 may be configured to output a regulated voltage level. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the regulator 712 may be operatively coupled to each of the sensor 716, the power management system 714, and the tuning controller 718. As described more fully below, sensor 716 may include one or more sensors configured to sense one or more parameter values within receive circuit 704. As described more fully below, the tuning controller 718 may also be operatively coupled to each of the sensor 716 and the matching circuit 708, and configured to deliver one or more tuning values to the matching circuit 708. May be In addition, the power management system 714 may be operatively coupled to each of the sensor 716 and the battery 706 and may be configured to control the operation of one or more components in the receiver 701.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the efficiency of wireless power transfer through near-field resonance can be achieved by a transmitter (eg, transmitter 104) and a receiver (eg, receiver 701) located within each other's near-field. It depends at least in part on the degree of coupling between. In addition, the degree of coupling between the transmitter and the receiver may depend on one or more conditions, and the one or more conditions may vary, may be unpredictable, or both. By way of example only, the degree of coupling between the transmitter and the receiver may include the type of transmitter, the type of receiver, the relative position of the transmitter and receiver, the frequency variation associated with the transmitter and / or receiver, and the temperature variation associated with the transmitter and / or receiver. , The presence of other materials in the vicinity of the transmitter and / or receiver, environmental variables, or any combination thereof.

Various exemplary embodiments of the invention described herein relate to increasing wireless power charging efficiency of receiver 701. According to one exemplary embodiment, the electronic device 700 and more particularly the receiver 701 sense various parameters (eg, voltage levels or current levels) associated with the receiving circuit 704. May optionally be configured to track. In addition, the receiver 701 may be configured to monitor data related to the battery 706. The parameters, battery data, or a combination thereof may be used to determine the charging efficiency of the receiver 701. In addition, in response to the one or more sensed parameters, the receiver 701 may be configured to tune the antenna 702 to enable optimal power supply to the battery 706.

With continued reference to FIG. 7, the power management system 714 may be configured to transmit data (ie, data related to the battery 706) to the sensor 716. More specifically, for example, power management system 714 may include a charge level of battery 706, a type of battery 706, a number of charge cycles completed by battery 706, or any combination thereof. May be configured to transmit data related to the sensor 716. In addition, sensor 716 may be configured to sense a voltage level at various locations within receiver 701, a current level at various locations within receiver 701, or any combination thereof. More specifically, sensor 716 is configured to sense a voltage level supplied from regulator 712 to battery 706, a current level supplied from regulator 712 to battery 706, or any combination thereof. May be It is also noted that sensor 716 may be configured to measure an average value of one or more sensed parameters and to monitor (ie, track) the amount of change of one or more sensed parameters, or any combination thereof. Sensor 716 may also be configured to transmit sensed data to tuning controller 718.

In response to the data received from the sensor 716, the tuning controller 718 may be configured to execute one or more algorithms to generate one or more tuning values, the one or more tuning values being optimal to the battery 706. It may be used to tune the antenna 702 to maintain a power supply. Note that one or more algorithms may be selected to suit a particular application. As one example, tuning controller 718 may include a PID (proportional-integral-derivative) controller. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the PID controller may be configured to execute a PID algorithm and output one or more tuning values upon receipt of one or more input signals (ie, data) from the sensor 716. As another example, tuning controller 718, upon receipt of one or more input signals (i.e., data) from sensor 716, as also understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, executes a continuous approximation algorithm to perform one or more tunings. It may be configured to generate values. In addition, after determining one or more tuning values, tuning controller 718 may be configured to transmit one or more signals (eg, control signals) indicative of one or more tuning values to matching circuit 708. Upon receipt of one or more signals, the matching circuit 708, and more particularly, the antenna tuning unit 720 (see FIG. 8) tunes the antenna 702 and accordingly provides optimal power to the battery 706. It may be configured to enable.

8 illustrates an example of an antenna tuning unit 720, which may be coupled to the receiving antenna 702 and includes one or more variable resistors 721, one or more variable capacitors. 723, or any combination thereof. The antenna tuning unit 720 may be configured to receive one or more signals from the tuning controller 718, in response to which the antenna 702 is tuned to enable optimal power supply to the battery 706 accordingly. You may.

The operation of the considered electronic device 700 is described below. Initially, antenna 702 may receive a signal, which, according to this example, includes wireless power. The antenna 702 may then deliver the received signal to the matching circuit 708, which may deliver the AC component of the received signal to the rectifier 710. Upon receipt of the signal, rectifier 710 may extract the DC component from the signal and then pass that DC component to voltage regulator 712. The voltage regulator 712 may then deliver the voltage to the power management system 714, which may then deliver the voltage to the battery 706 for charging the battery 706. have. Also, at any time during operation, sensor 716 may sense one or more parameters in receiver 701. For example, sensor 716 may sense a voltage level supplied from regulator 712 to battery 706, a current level supplied from regulator 712 to battery 706, or any combination thereof. . In addition, sensor 716 may monitor (ie, track) the amount of change in one or more sensed parameters, and calculate an average of one or more sensed parameters, or any combination thereof. Also, as described above, data related to battery 706 may be transferred from power management system 714 to sensor 716. Also, sensor 716 may pass data (eg, data related to battery 706 and / or sensed parameters) to tuning controller 718, which tuning controller 718 is then one one. One or more suitable algorithms may be performed to determine the above tuning values to enable optimal power supply to the battery 706. Thereafter, tuning controller 718 may deliver one or more signals indicative of the determined one or more tuning values to matching circuit 708. Upon receipt of one or more signals, matching circuit 708 may tune antenna 702 accordingly.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a method 680 in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments. The method 680 may include receiving an RF field using an antenna of the electronic device (denoted by reference numeral 682). The method 680 may further include sensing one or more parameters associated with the electronic device (denoted by reference numeral 684). The method 680 may also include generating one or more tuning values in response to the one or more sensed parameters (denoted by 686). Also, the method 680 may include tuning the antenna in accordance with one or more generated tuning values (denoted by reference numeral 688). Note that the method 680 may be repeated when required to maintain an optimal power supply to the battery associated with the electronic device.

As described above, exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a battery 706 under potential variable charging conditions (eg, movement of the electronic device 700, environmental variables, variations in transmitter characteristics, variations in receiver characteristics, and the like). May also enable optimal power supply to It is noted that the tracking and adaptive features of the exemplary embodiments described above may reduce the effects of variable charging conditions, such that charging time may be reduced, which may be beneficial to the user.

In addition to the above-described exemplary embodiments that may be configured to enable the passive device to tune its associated antenna to increase charging efficiency, another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, as described below with reference to FIGS. Embodiments relate to making it possible to tune the antenna of the active device to increase charging efficiency.

10 illustrates a system 880 that includes a first electronic device 800, which may include any known and suitable charger configured to transmit wireless power. The first electronic device 800 may include at least one transmit antenna 802 configured to wirelessly transmit power to at least one rechargeable device (eg, the second electronic device 850). More specifically, an associated transmitter, such as transmit antenna 802 and transmitter 104 of FIG. 2, may be configured to transmit wireless power to a receiver within an associated near field region. Note that the first electronic device 800 may also be referred to herein as a "charger" or "active device."

System 880 further includes a second electronic device 850, which second electronic device 850 may include any known and suitable rechargeable device configured to receive wireless power. As a non-limiting example, the electronic device 850 may include a cellular telephone, a portable media player, a camera, a gaming device, a navigation device, a headset (eg, a Bluetooth headset), a tool, a toy, or any combination thereof. have. Electronic device 850 may include at least one receive antenna 804 configured to receive wirelessly transmitted power from a suitable wireless power source (eg, first electronic device 800). More specifically, according to one exemplary embodiment, an associated receiver, such as antenna 804 and receiver 108 of FIG. 2, may be configured to receive wireless power transmitted from a wireless power source within an associated near field region. It may be. In addition, the electronic device 850 may be configured to charge the battery 852 with received power. Note that the second electronic device 850 may also be referred to herein as a "chargeable device" or "passive device." It is also noted that the second electronic device 850 may include the electronic device 700, as described above with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

In addition, each of electronic device 800 and electronic device 850 may be configured to wirelessly communicate with at least one other electronic device via associated antennas. More specifically, as an example, the electronic device 800 may be configured to establish a communication link with at least one other electronic device, and upon establishment of the communication link, data (eg, For example, audio files, data files, or video files) may be wirelessly received, data may be wirelessly transmitted to at least one other electronic device, or both may be possible. Similarly, electronic device 850 may be configured to establish a communication link with at least one other electronic device, and upon establishment of the communication link, data (eg, audio files) from the at least one other electronic device. , Data files, or video files), may wirelessly transmit data to at least one other electronic device, or both. As illustrated in FIG. 10, a communication link 810 exists between the first electronic device 800 and the second electronic device 850.

With reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, the operation of the considered system 880 is described below. Initially, the first electronic device 800 may transmit an RF field (indicated by reference numeral 870 in FIG. 11), which RF field may be received by the second electronic device 850. In addition, upon receiving the RF field 870, the second electronic device 850 may be configured to monitor the charging efficiency of the system 880. For example, the second electronic device 850 may be configured to monitor the amount of energy received from the RF field 870. More specifically, the second electronic device 850 can determine various parameters (eg, voltage levels, current levels, temperatures, and frequencies) associated with components or signals within the electronic device 850. Sensing and tracking may be configured to determine the amount of energy received from the RF field 870. Also, as an example, the second electronic device 850 may be configured to compare the amount of energy received from the RF field 870 with one or more benchmark values to determine the charging efficiency of the system 880. As one example, the second electronic device 850 may be configured to receive a data signal from the first electronic device 800 indicative of the amount of energy transmitted to the RF field 870. Thereafter, to determine the charging efficiency of the system 880, the second electronic device 850 may compare the amount of energy received from the RF field 870 with the amount of energy transmitted to the RF field 870.

The second electronic device 850 may determine that the charging efficiency of the system 880 may be improved, or if the received RF field is inappropriate for charging the battery 852 efficiently. A first electronic device, via a link 810 and in accordance with any suitable means of communication (eg, NFC), requests a signal (denoted by reference numeral 872 in FIG. 11) requesting a change to the transmitted RF field. May be configured to transmit to 800. As one example, the second electronic device 850 may be configured to transmit a signal to the first electronic device 800 requesting that tuning of the antenna 802 be changed in a desired manner. Desired changes of the antenna 802 may include, but are not limited to, a change in center frequency, a change in Q factor, a change in impedance, a change in directivity, a change in the number of selected turns, or any combination thereof. . As another example, the second electronic device 850 may be configured to transmit a signal to the first electronic device 800 requesting that the amplitude of the transmitted RF field be increased or decreased. For example only, the current of the received RF field is too high or too low to charge the battery 852, the voltage of the received RF field is too high or too low to charge the battery 852, or their Note that, for one or more various reasons, such as any combination, the received RF field may be inappropriate.

Upon receipt of a signal 872 (ie, request) from the second electronic device 850, the first electronic device 800 may be configured to determine whether the compliance with the request, or partial compliance, is executable. . Determining whether compliance is feasible may merely depend at least in part on various factors, such as, for example, regulatory constraints, available resources, or any combination thereof. Note that if the first electronic device 800 determines that it cannot comply with the request, the charging efficiency of the system 880 will not be worsened. On the other hand, when the first electronic device 800 can at least partially comply with the request, the charging efficiency of the system 880 may be improved.

Regardless of whether the first electronic device 800 determines that it can fully comply with the request, can not comply with the request, or only partially according to the request, the first electronic device 800 is the second electronic Provide a response signal (indicated by reference numeral 874 in FIG. 11) informing device 850 of the determination of the first electronic device 800 and optionally of the reason of the determination of the first electronic device 800. 2 may transmit to electronic device 850. The response signal 874 may be useful to the second electronic device 850 to generate further requests if it is determined that more effective charging is not possible or to determine to power down one or more of the associated components. Note that there is.

RF field including wireless power that may have one or more modified parameters (eg, frequency, Q factor, directivity, amplitude, etc.) when the first electronic device 800 is at least partially on request (FIG. 11). 876 may be transmitted to the second electronic device 850.

12 is a flowchart illustrating a method 690 in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments. The method 690 may include receiving an RF field from an RF source (denoted by reference numeral 692). The method 690 may further include transmitting a signal to the RF source requesting at least one change to the RF field (denoted by reference numeral 694). In addition, the method 690 may further include receiving the changed RF field (represented by 696) after requesting at least one change.

The various exemplary embodiments described above with reference to FIGS. 10-12 enable wireless charging of a rechargeable device in situations that would otherwise be difficult if not impossible. As one example, if a mismatch between the receiving antenna (e.g., antenna 804) and the transmitting antenna (e.g., antenna 802) results in low charging efficiency, the transmitting antenna is said to increase efficiency. It may be tuned to enable it. As another example, if the rechargeable device (eg, the second electronic device 850) is too far or too close to the RF source (eg, the first electronic device 800) for efficient coupling, The power level of the transmitted RF field may be reduced or increased to make it possible to increase the coupling.

13 shows a block diagram of another electronic device 900 that may include any known and suitable electronic device. The electronic device 900 may include a cellular telephone, a portable media player, a camera, a gaming device, a navigation device, a headset (eg, a Bluetooth headset), a tool, a toy, or any combination thereof. As described in more detail below, the electronic device 900 may be configured to wirelessly receive an RF field transmitted from an RF source. More specifically, according to one exemplary embodiment, the receiver 901 of the electronic device 900 may be configured to receive wireless power transmitted from the wireless charger. In addition, according to another example embodiment, the electronic device 900 may be configured to wirelessly communicate with at least one other electronic device via the receiver 901. More specifically, as an example, the electronic device 900 may be configured to establish a communication link (eg, a near-field communication (NFC) link) with at least one other electronic device, Upon establishment, it may wirelessly receive data (eg, audio files, data files, or video files) from at least one other electronic device via suitable means (eg, NFC means), and The data may be wirelessly transmitted to at least one other electronic device via means (eg, NFC means), or both may be possible.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, while operating in the passive mode, the receiver 901 extracts a sufficient amount of energy from the received RF field (i.e., the data signal) so that the receiver 901 can transmit a transmission device (e.g., FIG. And may be capable of powering a communication circuit configured to passively communicate with the two transmitters 104. In addition, the received RF field associated with the data signal may typically generate energy beyond what is required to power the communication circuitry within the receiver. In accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the electronic device 900 and, more particularly, the receiver 901 receives a data signal via suitable communication means, extracts available energy from the data signal and And, may be configured to deliver the extracted energy to the battery 906.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, the receiver 901 includes an antenna 902 operatively coupled to the receiving circuit 904 and configured to receive wireless power. The receiving circuit 904 may include a matching circuit 908, a rectifier 910, a first voltage regulator 912, and a data processor 924. The matching circuit 908 may be operatively coupled to each of the rectifier 910 and the data processor 924. In addition, the first voltage regulator 912 may be operatively coupled to each of the data processor 924 and the rectifier 910. The receiving circuit 904 may further include a second voltage regulator 926 operably coupled to each of the rectifier 910 and the power management system 914, the power management system 914 being a power management integrated. It may also include a circuit. The power management system 914 may be operatively coupled to the battery 906. For example only, the second voltage regulator 926 may include a switching regulator.

The operation of the considered receiver 901 is described below. Initially, after the antenna 902 receives the data signal via appropriate means (eg, NFC means), it may forward the received signal to the matching circuit 908. Thereafter, the matching circuit 908 may deliver the AC component of the received signal to each of the data processor 924 and the rectifier 910. Upon receipt of the signal, rectifier 910 may extract the DC component from the signal and pass that DC component to first voltage regulator 912. The first voltage regulator 912 may then transfer a voltage to the data processor 924 to power components therein.

Rectifier 910 may also deliver an unregulated voltage, V _unreg , to second voltage regulator 926. The second voltage regulator 926 may be configured to output a voltage (V _reg) regulation, and that the control voltage (V _reg) will also have an appropriate amplitude to charge the battery 906. The amplitude of the unregulated voltage V _unreg transmitted from the rectifier 910 to the second voltage regulator 926 is a couple between the receiver 901 and the associated transmitter (eg, the transmitter 104 of FIG. 2). Note also that it may be very dependent on the degree of ring. Furthermore, the relative location of the receiver 901 and associated transmitter (eg, transmitter 104 of FIG. 2), tuning of the associated antennas, as well as the presence of other materials in the vicinity of the transmitter and / or receiver 901, It may also affect the amplitude of the unregulated voltage (V _unreg ).

Upon receipt of the regulated voltage V _reg , the power management system 914 may deliver power to the battery 906 for its charging. In a manner similar to when the wired charger (not shown) delivers power to the power management system 914, the second voltage regulator 926 supplies the regulated voltage V _reg to an input pin (not shown) of the power management system 914. Note that it can also be delivered.

FIG. 14 illustrates a system 950 that includes an electronic device 900 positioned proximate to the electronic device 960, which electronic device 960 transmits data via any suitable means. It may be configured to transmit to. The electronic device 900 receives an RF field (ie, a data signal) from the electronic device 960 (indicated by arrow 792), and transmits the data signal to a data processor (eg, the data processor 924 of FIG. 12). It may also be configured to deliver. Further, in accordance with one or more of the example embodiments described above, the electronic device 900 extracts available energy from a received RF field and converts the extracted energy into a battery 906 (see FIG. 12). May be configured to deliver).

15 illustrates another system 990 that includes an electronic device 900 located proximate to the electronic device 962, which is shown as a laptop computer. The electronic device 962 may be configured to establish a communication link with the electronic device 900 by any suitable means. In addition, upon establishment of the communication link, the electronic device 962 may be configured to transmit an RF field to the electronic device 900 that includes a data signal (eg, media files or data files). The electronic device 900 receives an RF field (ie, a data signal) from the electronic device 962 and passes the data signal to a data processor (ie, the data processor 924 of FIG. 12) of the electronic device 900. It may be configured to. Further, in accordance with one or more of the example embodiments described above, the electronic device 900 extracts available energy from an RF field and transfers the extracted energy to the battery 906 (see FIG. 12). It may also be configured to deliver. Data transfer from one electronic device (eg, electronic device 962) to another electronic device (eg, electronic device 900) may require a significant amount of time, so that a significant amount of energy during data transfer Note that it may be delivered to a battery (eg, battery 906).

16 is a flow chart illustrating a method 980 in accordance with one or more illustrative embodiments. The method 980 may include wirelessly receiving a data signal using an electronic device (denoted by reference numeral 982). The method 980 may further include extracting available energy from the data signal (denoted by reference numeral 984). The method 980 may also include delivering the extracted energy to a battery associated with the electronic device (denoted by reference numeral 986). Note that the method 980 may be repeated for each data signal received by the electronic device.

Note that the example embodiments described with reference to FIGS. 13-16 may be used in conjunction with other wireless charging techniques, such as high power dedicated wireless chargers. However, in a standalone configuration, the example embodiments described with reference to FIGS. 13-16 may enable low cost, small, and highly reliable means to charge the electronic device.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, commands, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may include voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any thereof. It can also be represented by a combination of.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the various exemplary logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in conjunction with the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented in electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware or software depends on the design constraints imposed on the overall system and the particular application. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the exemplary embodiments of the invention.

The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are general purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programming designed to perform the functions described herein. It may be implemented or performed in a possible gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, separate gate or transistor logic, separate hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented in a combination of computing devices, eg, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in conjunction with the example embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. Software modules include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD- It may reside in a ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. One example storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

In one or more illustrative embodiments, the functions described above may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media carries RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures. Or any other medium that can be used for storage and accessible by a computer. Also, any connection is suitably referred to as a computer readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, wireless and microwave, the definition of the medium This includes coaxial cables, fiber optic cables, twisted pairs, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, wireless and microwave. Disks and disks, as used herein, include compact disks (CDs), laser disks, optical disks, digital versatile disks (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray disks, where disks (disks) ) Usually reproduces data magnetically, while a disc (disc) optically reproduces data using a laser. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

The previous description of the disclosed exemplary embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these exemplary embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the example embodiments shown herein but will be to the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims (28)

As a chargeable device,
A receiving circuit for coupling to the receiving antenna,
The receiving circuit,
At least one sensor for sensing one or more parameters associated with the rechargeable device;
A tuning controller operably coupled to the at least one sensor to generate one or more tuning values in response to the sensed one or more parameters; And
And a matching circuit operably coupled to the tuning controller to tune the receive antenna in accordance with the one or more tuning values. The method of claim 1,
And the tuning controller also executes one or more algorithms to generate the one or more tuning values. The method of claim 1,
The tuning controller also executes at least one of a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) algorithm and a continuous approximation algorithm to generate the one or more tuning values. The method of claim 1,
The receiving circuit further comprises a power management system for delivering data related to a battery to the at least one sensor. The method of claim 4, wherein
The power management system also delivers at least one of the type of battery, the number of charge cycles of the battery, and the charge level of the battery to the at least one sensor. The method of claim 4, wherein
The tuning controller also generates the one or more tuning values in response to the data related to the battery. The method of claim 1,
The at least one sensor also senses at least one of a voltage level supplied to a battery and an amount of current supplied to the battery. The method of claim 1,
The at least one sensor also measures an average value of the sensed one or more parameters, or tracks the amount of change of the sensed one or more parameters. The method of claim 1,
The receiving circuit is also,
Receive from the associated wireless charger a data signal indicative of the amount of energy in the transmitted RF field;
And compares the amount of energy in the transmitted RF field with the measured amount of energy in the received RF field. The method of claim 1,
The receiving circuit also transmits a data signal to the associated wireless charger requesting at least one change to the RF field transmitted from the associated wireless charger. The method of claim 1,
The receiving circuit,
A voltage regulator for extracting available energy from the received data signal; And
And a power management system for delivering the extracted energy to a battery. The method of claim 11,
The receiving circuit is further to convey the data signal to a data processor. Receiving an RF field using an antenna of the electronic device;
Sensing one or more parameters associated with the electronic device;
Generating one or more tuning values in response to the sensed one or more parameters; And
Tuning the antenna in accordance with the generated one or more tuning values. The method of claim 13,
Requesting at least one change to the RF field. The method of claim 13,
Requesting at least one change comprises transmitting a signal requesting the at least one change to the RF field to an associated wireless charger. The method of claim 15,
In response to the request for the at least one change, receiving a response signal from the wireless charger to the electronic device. The method of claim 14,
After requesting the at least one change to the RF field, receiving the changed RF field. The method of claim 15,
Tuning the antenna of the associated wireless charger in response to the request of the at least one change. The method of claim 17,
Tuning the antenna of an associated wireless charger comprises changing one of the Q factor of the antenna, the impedance of the antenna, the center frequency transmitted by the antenna, the directivity of the antenna, and the number of turns of the antenna. Comprising the steps of: The method of claim 17,
Receiving the modified RF field includes receiving a modified RF field from the associated wireless charger after transmitting a signal requesting the at least one change to the RF field to an associated wireless charger. . The method of claim 17,
Receiving the modified RF field comprises receiving a modified field having a power of one of increased power and reduced power. The method of claim 13,
Sensing the one or more parameters comprises sensing at least one of a voltage supplied to a battery associated with the electronic device and an amount of current supplied to the battery. The method of claim 13,
Generating the one or more tuning values comprises executing one or more algorithms to generate the one or more tuning values. The method of claim 23,
Executing the one or more algorithms includes executing at least one of a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) algorithm and a continuous approximation algorithm to generate the one or more tuning values. The method of claim 23,
Executing the one or more algorithms includes receiving at a tuning controller at least one of the sensed one or more parameters and associated battery. Means for receiving an RF field using an antenna of the electronic device;
Means for sensing one or more parameters associated with the electronic device;
Means for generating one or more tuning values in response to the sensed one or more parameters; And
Means for tuning the antenna in accordance with the generated one or more tuning values. A transmission circuit coupling to the antenna,
The transmission circuit,
Transmit an RF field;
Receive a data signal comprising a request for at least one change to the RF field;
If possible, configured to transmit another RF field at least partially modified in response to the request. The method of claim 27,
And the transmitting circuit is further configured to respond to the request and to transmit a response signal indicating whether the charger will at least partially comply with the request.

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